My father had an episode of uncontrolled pain, anxiety and worsening disorientation. I called the hospice 800 number and asked Dad's nurse to come or call back. It was a miserable 3 hours for both Dad and I until all the meds I gave finally got control and he was able to rest. I never heard from the nurse. I don't know what he was involved in but I don't think no response is acceptable. I worked as an RN for 39 years and not responding to a patient's pain issue was not an option for me. Am I being too critical?
Then I would write a letter to the Hospice Service you have and register a complaint. It does not have to be nasty, but honest and complete.
Hoping Dad is doing better. Take a long breath and rest yourself. This was totally irresponsible of the Hospice Service
of it though it’s important to always let
nurses know you are watching over his care all the time too. God bless 🙏🙏🙏
This happened to me with the first hospice company I had for my dad (Vitas). They didn't return phone calls, they chewed me out for requesting to change the time for a medical procedure so my dad could see his granddaughter for the last time, and the social worker told me "This isn't about you" when I asked if there were any kind of support services for the family. That was the final straw.
I called another company, they made all the arrangements to deliver the exact equipment my dad had received from Vitas as theirs was being picked up, and my dad was inconvenienced for a total of 45 minutes. (He just rested on his regular bed until the new hospital bed was brought in.)
This was the end of my dad's life, and I wasn't going to be my usual "mistakes happen" person and forgive the gaffes of the hospice company. I didn't have time for mistakes, and firing that company was the best thing I did. The new company's nurses were true angels, and when I called to say I just couldn't do it anymore, a nurse was there within two hours, and we weren't left alone until my dad passed about 24 hours later.
But I want to mention that there have been outage issues with big companies that use manage phone systems. I am not saying this is the situation with your company, but at mine we had two regional offices that were not getting their messages for 2 weeks.
When you follow up with the company please let us know what their reasons were for not replying. And ask for a local/direct line to the nurse so this does not happen again.
That's what Hospice is supposed to be all about, to keep the dying person comfortable!
If you don't get any satisfaction, you should change Hospice Care.
Let them know that if they do nothing about what happened.
Then follow thru, change Hospice provider, there are many to choose from.
Prayers
You need to notify a supervisor asap of what transpired. If there is no satisfactory resolution, look for another hospice. I regret that I didn't encourage a different hospice agency be considered.
Also, did you give the meds in the refrigerator kit? Usually the physical response to those was within fifteen minutes when I administered to my mil. I'm sorry your dad struggled for so long and that you had to watch that.
problem. There may be Hospice companies that do a better job;. We liked and appreciated the Hospice nurse who visited twice a week to take vitals and refills medicines, but we did not have any help with difficult situations.
Please give them another chance if this was a one time incident. If you continue having communication problems, you may wish to switch providers.
There should be a line you can reach an actual person at 24/7.
Period.
Not calling back is the antithesis of what Hospice stands for in the treatment of people with life-limiting disease to ease pain and anxiety while also supporting family. When the current agency is fired, let them know in no uncertain terms why.
This is a time for support, symptom relief and to take away as many stressors as possible for the family. Trust your gut, it did you well for your 39 years! (I've got 50 under my belt, part of which was as a Hospice RN).
I would call the Hospice and ask to talk to the Care Team Manager and explain the situation.
No you are not being critical.
Giving the benefit of doubt until you call and ask what happened you never know if the nurse was involved in an accident on the way to your house. Or the nurse did call the doctor to get authorization to either increase medication or another medication and the doctor did not respond. Or any number of things BUT even if any of those did occur YOU should have been kept informed about what was going on.
Hospice should know about the breakdown in communication.
I fired two hospices until I found the one I really liked.
I can't know, as a nurse, what the situation with the pain meds is, but clearly they are not being given in sufficient amounts or in time frame to prevent the severity you were dealing with.
Speak with doctor in Hospice about what to do about breakthrough pain you are dealing with now.
As you say, you cannot know why you weren't answered, so do ask.
I hope you can clarify today what number you can call to get a live RN on the line.
If that service is not available from this hospice organization, I would switch immediately.